1 podium, 3 champions, 1 watch brand!
TAG Heuer, more than any other Swiss Luxury watch brand, masters motor racing and celebrates Kimi Räikkönen, F1 World Champion 2007
TAG Heuer: The Number One Luxury Watch Brand In Motor Sports
Through its dynamic 2007 partnerships with FIA F1 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen, F1 superstars Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, Sébastien Bourdais in Champcar and Jeff Gordon in Nascar, racing teams Vodafone McLaren Mercedes in Formula 1, Peugeot Sport and Team Barazi Epsilon at Le Mans and in Endurance, and the world’s most powerful and exclusive sports car, the Mercedes SLR, TAG Heuer more than any other watch brand ever, is the undisputed avant-garde luxury watch and eyewear reference in the world of motor racing and dream cars.
Parallel to being the most ambitious creator of cutting-edge chronographs and timekeeping technology in the prestigious history of Swiss watchmaking, TAG Heuer is the luxury watch brand with the longest and most legitimate links to professional motor sports and dream cars—a unique heritage that has helped create iconic timepieces like the Carrera, the Monaco, and the TAG Heuer Formula 1.
With Kimi Räikkönen F1 World Champion 2007, TAG Heuer is more than ever the brand that partners with the world’s greatest drivers.
The first brand to develop chronograph dashboards, partner with racing drivers and racing teams, and crack and master the time barriers of 1/10th, 1/100th, 1/1,000th and 1/10,000th of a second – when it comes to genuine racing experience and know-how, TAG Heuer leads the race! Nowhere is this more apparent than in the brand’s bid to build the most successful team of race car drivers.
In 2007, TAG Heuer ambassadors and World Champion Kimi Räikkönen from Scuderia Ferrari F1, Fernando Alonso and his team mate, best F1 rookie Lewis Hamilton, have joined their masters F1 predecessors such as Juan-Manuel Fangio, Jo Siffert, Jacky Ickx, Emerson Fittipaldi, Clay Regazzoni, Ronnie Peterson, Mario Andretti, Niki Lauda, Jody Scheckter, Gilles Villeneuve, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, Mika Häkkinen, David Coulthard or Juan Pablo Montoya, confirming the brand know-how to partner with only the best.
F1 Runner-up in 2003 and 2005, Kimi Räikkönen has shown to the world "What he is made of" by offering us the most thrilling and exciting F1 championship in decades. The “Ice Man” started strong from Melbourne and never changed his way, until Brazil where he was not the favourite for winning the Championship. A TAG Heuer Brand Ambassador since 2002, Kimi works closely with the TAG Heuer Avant-Garde Eyewear team, while continuing to wear, inspire and help develop TAG Heuer timepieces. Kimi proudly wore the new TAG Heuer Formula 1 chronograph this season.
Close on the heels of Kimi on the driver Championship podium is Lewis Hamilton, whom TAG Heuer discovered in 2003 and two-times F1 World Champion Fernando Alonso. TAG Heuer honored Lewis and Fernando with exclusive Calibre S Limited Edition, while Kimi will develop in 2008 a special range of eyewear products.
“This week end will remain forever a milestone in TAG Heuer rich history with motor racing! Indeed, a few hours after TAG Heuer Timepieces and Eyewear ambassador Sébastien Bourdais clinched his 4th consecutive Champcar Worldseries title winning the Surfer's Paradise Australian GP, TAG Heuer Timepieces and Eyewear ambassador Kimi Räikkönen became 2007 F1 FIA World Champion (*) after winning the Brazil F1 GP driving his Ferrari F1, his 7th seasonal win and 15th career win. Not only did Kimi, a 6 years Brand ambassador, achieve this extraordinary result, but Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton who finished today 3rd and 7th of the Brazilian GP, complete TAG Heuer "Hat Trick" on F1 by finishing the 2007 F1 Championship respectively 2nd and 3rd with 109 points each, i.e. a 1 point difference only with Kimi !” declares Jean-Christophe Babin, President & CEO TAG Heuer.
“For the first time, TAG Heuer drivers dominate the F1 driver World Championship, finishing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, a result never achieved before in brand partnerships. Congratulations to our 3 drivers and brand ambassadors for this unique achievement! This says long on "What TAG Heuer champions are made of?!" and how much they dominate Formula 1 and motor racing overall.” he concludes.
TAG Heuer ambassadors rule the world of Formula 1
TAG Heuer is further represented in Formula One by longtime friends of the brand David Coulthard and Mark Webber of Red Bull-Renault. And next year, another TAG Heuer F1 star will be added to fold when Sébastien Bourdais will join Scuderia Toro Rosso. The fourth-time ChampCar World Champion (the 1st ever driver to win 4 consecutive titles), driving with Paul Newman Racing Team and for Peugeot Sport’s at Le Mans, has been a TAG Heuer ambassador for watches and eyewear since 2001.
TAG Heuer’s unrivalled depth in Formula One is backed up with a strong presence in other prestigious motor-racing competitions. In NASCAR, Jeff Gordon, the most renowned racecar driver in the United States with 81 NASCAR wins to his credit and currently 1st in 2007 standings, has been a TAG Heuer Brand Ambassador since 2004. In, IRL IndyCar Series, female driver Sarah Fisher, a six-time Indy 500 competitor and three-time winner of the Series Most Popular Driver Award, has been a TAG Heuer Brand Ambassador since 2002. In German DTM touring car series, Mattias Ekström, Audi official driver and a TAG Heuer friend of the brand since he joined the Grand Carrera Launch in 2007, won again the title.
TAG Heuer and the next racing generation: The ones to watch!
Determined to actively build upon its driving passion for motor racing, TAG Heuer is also backing the future of the sport. Upcoming prodigies sponsored by TAG Heuer include Swiss drivers Sébastien Buemi and Simona De Silvestro. The 19-year-old Sébastien first caught TAG Heuer’s attention when he joined German Formula BMW in 2004, finishing second overall. He’s currently competing in the Formula Three Euroseries and the GP2 championship, the serie that Lewis Hamilton dominated in 2006. Simona De Silvestro, also 19, got her start like Sébastien in karting. The first woman to mount the podium at Indianapolis, she finished fourth in her first season in the 2006 Formula BMW USA championship and is now in the Champ Car Atlantic Series with defending champions Team Walker Racing. TAG Heuer wishes those young talents the same success as Lewis Hamilton and Sébastien Bourdais, 2 drivers discovered by TAG Heuer many years ago.
The Saga Continues!
TAG Heuer’s racing roster includes the descendents of three legendary drivers who proudly wore TAG Heuer colors at the height of their racing careers:
Vanina Ickx, the daughter of Belgian F1 legend Jacky Ickx, with whom she co-raced the grueling Dakar, has raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Belgian Toyota Yaris Cup, the Porsche Supercup and the Spa 24 Hours. She is currently a member of the Audi DTM Team.
Nicolas Prost, the 26-year-old son of four-time world champion and longtime TAG Heuer Ambassador Alain Prost, competes in Spanish F3 and GT racing and has just signed on to represent France in the 2007/2008 A1GP World Cup.
Bruno Senna, the nephew of three-time Formula One world champion and TAG Heuer ambassador Ayrton Senna, joined TAG Heuer in 2007. Winning in only his third GP2 start at Barcelona in May, the 23-year old Brazilian prodigy has shown a passion for speed and daring only equaled by his famous uncle.
From yesteryears Formula 1 icons to today young drivers revelations - an unparalleled heritage of motor racing prowess. With their outstanding talent, courage, mental strength and determination to win, these extraordinary drivers are a constant source of inspiration to TAG Heuer’s award-winning design and technology teams. Like the sport of motor racing itself, they represent proudly the spirit and leadership that has driven the Swiss Luxury watch making legend in its relentless pursuit of perfection for 148 years. That same spirit and passion, embodied in the newest generation of TAG Heuer driving talents, will push the brand even further!
